


blood (&) money

by biphocals



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bill Cipher Being Bill Cipher, Ford Pines' Portal Adventures, Gen, Kinda prose?, Non-Linear Narrative, POV Multiple, Stan Pines is a Good Brother, Stylistic Choices, honestly this was just an excuse to write bill cipher trying to understand why ford is Like That, takes place kind of during the whole show but mostly just when Important Events happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29146074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biphocals/pseuds/biphocals
Summary: Here's a secret:A portal goes two ways.And another:What Bill is forgetting is that deals have fine print. That an eye must have a blind spot.
Relationships: Bill Cipher & Ford Pines, Bill Cipher & Stan Pines, Ford Pines & Stan Pines
Kudos: 21





	blood (&) money

**Author's Note:**

> very, very rarely do i write any fanfiction, but this show inspired me a lot and it's been a while since i came back to it, so here we are.
> 
> i'm a big fan of character exploration and initially this was gonna be about ford trying to re-adapt to society, but bill cipher is just so fucking Weird that i had to write about him. yknow?

Ford Pines is hilarious. The guy moves across the continent to do research about shit _literally no one_ believes in, with an expiring grant from Nowhere, Fucksville. What’s he even trying to do?

(Bill watches as he writes the journals. Hires McGucket. Becomes something of a threat. Almost.)

Alright, batter-up. He’s just gonna do a light possession, set up a long-con or four, and oh, okay. The Pines have some stuff going on.

(Bill watches him dance his way into the portal, into traps Bill had forgotten making- there were better, shinier, bloodier things to look at, okay?)

He just floats in, lays some glittery ideas down, and lets the fleshbag dot the i’s.

The deal is _delicious_.

(Bill watches him scrape by in the Mindscape. Watches him get into shit he doesn’t even realize, and Bill laughs the whole time like some god of chaos. Which he is, see? Look at him out there.)

What Ford seems to have forgotten in his hilarious trial to survive, to win with a hand he hasn’t been dealt, is that Bill doesn’t actually care.

(Bill watches him burn, bleed, back himself into corners, and he keeps laughing. How does he still think he’s the smart one?)

What Ford seems to forget in his apparent luck is that Bill’s just here to watch the end. He doesn’t care that that sixer’s got a stake in this, now. It won’t change the outcome- might hurry it up, even.

(Bill watches the idiot reflection try to stop him. It’s the best show in the multiverse- look how _desperate_ he is. He watches Sixer less often, now.)

What Dumb-Ford has already forgotten is who’s in control. It’s so obvious, he should know by now. Just look at the convenience of timing- the closest he’s gotten so far, right when two of Bill’s best gambles show up at his damn doorstep.

(And Ford thought he knew what he was doing out there?)

Here’s a secret:  
Dumb-Ford doesn’t acknowledge Bill, but it doesn’t change that he’s there. Pine Tree does that for him. He breaks easy. It’s clean, for the most part.

(And another: A portal goes two ways. Ford found his half just when he should’ve, Bill made sure of that.)

Bill watches Dumb-Ford admit to what he is, and fucking- what is Sixer doing? Playing the hero? Right, good, move along.

Bill watches the inevitable dance in front of his pawns, watches them sew the plot-holes closed. They’re doing his job for him, at this point.

Bill watches them pretend they’re in control again, and that alone is enough material for a new bit entirely.

(Here’s a secret:  
What Shooting Star forgot is that not everyone’s as pure-hearted as she thinks she is. It’ll get her killed someday, Bill will make sure of that.)

And another: What Bill is forgetting is that in this dimension, free will is more of a _thing_. It won’t change the inevitable, though. That’s what the name’s for.

Ford watches as these people, his family, he supposes, make closer and closer calls. He can’t tell them- not the whole truth, anyway.

He decides to take after his twin for once, and makes a gamble. Dipper’s a good kid. He’s smarter than he was, or at the very least less arrogant.

(Here’s a secret: What Bill is forgetting is that deals have fine print. That an eye must have a blind spot. His talent has always been in making promises and not keeping them.)

And another: Free will exists in every dimension _except_ the 3rd. When Bill turns physical, his lucky streaks seem to run dry.

Ford is betting on an end he’s reluctantly less sure of. Fire and flames, certainly, but that’s always too painful. He’s been burned enough in the past. He’s running out of space for it.

Stan watches as his family gets smart. He loves them, but he’s never been, never will be smart like they are.

Doesn’t mean he’s stupid.

(Here’s a secret: Stan’s been hiding himself for so long he’s not sure if “Stanley Pines” can exist anymore.)

And another: When the rift breaks and his family has not come home, Stan weighs his options. He figures he was a hero once, figures he can protect somebody else, then.

Bill watches the impossible town burn, watches his tricks pay off, watches as the pieces fall into place just right. He’s never felt this powerful, before.

(Business is easy during the end of the world. There’s nothing left to be surprised by when it can’t get much worse, right? Wrong. Bill is learning that the fine print should be bolded, sometimes, should be in size 42 font, underlined.)

It ends like this:  
Bill is here, at the end of the world- city? town? much less dramatic than he prefers- and he is _winning_. It doesn’t matter that Shooting Star is weaker than he thought, that Pine Tree takes too much after Sixer and not enough after Dumb-Ford. It’s still inevitable.

Ford is trapped in a room that turns itself into something worse with each blink. He almost wishes he was solid gold again, if only to keep his eyes closed. Bill is here, because a deal’s a deal, and Ford never knew how to play his cards right.

(Stan knows he’s not Ford, that was clear from day 1. He also knows that there are people in his house, _his_ house, that are scared and probably about to die. But the kids are here, and Bill is not. He weighs his options.)

Here’s a secret:  
Bill is forgetting what makes people human. It isn’t the money, fame, or power that he promises. It is likely the same force that makes Sixer’s mind entirely blank, and why it’s Dumb-Ford who burns with him.

And another:  
Stan has forgotten why he hurts so much, until he knows again and it feels even heavier.

Ford is learning that being human is harder than he remembers. It’s difficult, but worth it when he sees the statue in the woods, never to blink again. He breathes in, breathes out, and braves it all.

He can work with this.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! <3


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